Donny van de Beek leaps to the defence of Harry Maguire after captain is booed in Melbourne

Donny van de Beek has defended his Manchester United teammate Harry Maguire after the club’s captain was booed by supporters in Melbourne. 

Maguire was jeered when the teams were read out and again whenever he touched the ball during an awkward opening 30 minutes for the England international. 

The centre-back endured a difficult campaign last year under both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and interim manager Ralf Rangnick, often being on the receiving end of much of the blame during a dismal season for the club. 

Harry Maguire was booed by sections of the crowd during the club’s win over Crystal Palace

However, speaking after the game, Van de Beek responded to the jeers that came from parts of the 76,000-strong crowd by stating that he thought his captain had had a good game and did not deserve such a reaction.   

‘I heard as well. I didn’t know really what happened,’ the midfielder, who spent part of last season on-loan at Everton, said. 

He added: ‘But I think if I saw the game today I think Harry was playing really well.

The captain was jeered when the teams were read out and then when he touched the ball for around 30 minutes after

‘He was aggressive, he got so many balls, so that means he has a big personality.

‘He has a lot of experience, so I think that’s positive what he [showed], his performance today.’

Ten Hag will hope that such a reaction does not follow United for the remainder of their pre-season. They still have games to come against Aston Villa, Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano to come. 

Nevertheless, another win – the club’s third from as many games this pre-season – continued United’s encouraging start under manager Ten Hag.

Donny van de Beek leaped to the defence of his captain after the game saying that he thought he performed well

Supporters will be particularly encouraged by the three goal scorers in United’s win, with Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho all finding the net. 

They were three players that struggled throughout last season, with Martial eventually going on loan to Sevilla while Rashford and Sancho both suffered from injuries and spells out of the team.

The Crystal Palace game marked the club’s last in Melbourne, and penultimate in Australia, before they move on to Perth, where they will face Aston Villa at the Optus Stadium. 

They return to Oslo to face Atletico Madrid before Ten Hag will experience a game at Old Trafford for the first time when his side line up against Rayo Vallecano.